Taking a walk into town
Stafford St. , south. Timaru, Sept. 2009
Walk
The Timaru
Herald 4/9/2007
Timaru man Trevor Griffiths takes another trip down memory lane, this time
sharing his memories of walking into town when he was much younger. Did you ever
stop to think a little about you and your friends talking about old times – that
that is really all we do have to talk about? We cannot predict the future,
although some try, and in fact we live in the present, so there is little wonder
that when friends assemble inevitably the conversation is always centred on past
happenings. If you have a good memory you can enjoy the topics discussed and if
your memory is poor you tend to feel left out of the trip down memory lane.
Sometimes I have vivid recollections of events of 50, 60 or even 70 years ago,
but I can have difficulty remembering what I had for breakfast.
My parents' home was in William Street and of course during the 30s, 40s and 50s
walking everywhere was the common practice. Having to go to town on some errand
we would, more often than not, choose to walk through Alexandra Square, across
Browne Street and to Heaton Street. There was a butcher shop on the corner to
which I was often sent and next-door was De Latours general store of all kinds
of necessities but mostly groceries and confections.
TG Sheed and Son Contractors were just on the north side and ES Brookes yard,
also a general contractor had his premises north again. Then of course came
Butlers Service Station. Crossing North Street you entered Stafford Street and
the commencement of the business heart of Timaru. The changing times, of course,
have seen many businesses come and go. Some that are worthy of mention between
North and Woollcombe streets are the tinsmiths shop of Mr Hitch and Son. You
could not help looking in the window because all of his products would sparkle
in the bright light. His products were very much sought after. He made all
manner of kitchen utensils combined with many farm and dairy requirements. All
of his products have since been superceded by plastic and other modern
materials.
Adjacent to Hitch's was Southgate and Sons, plumbers. The next store used to be
very popular with many residents of South Canterbury. It was McGruer and Davies
department store and was directly opposite Cliff Street. It was the type of
establishment where the employees would enter from school and remain there all
their working lives. Two of these would be Jessie Orr and Harry Cullen. I can
still see Jessie's ample form biking home from work and Harry in his brown
striped suit resplendent with his auburn hair and tape measure around his
shoulders. One Friday night while walking home from town, sometime during 1943,
I was passing the store and saw an American sailor, recognisable from his navy P
jacket and his circular white hat, take a pair of football boots from an outside
stall on the pavement. I was unsure what do do but went into the store entrance
and summoned Mr Davies who quickly came outside and confronted the sailor who
then drew a . 45 Navy pistol and pointed it at Mr Davies. Having more or less
forgotten the incident I was very surprised to hear Mr Tait at the Boys High
School assembly on Monday morning ask for the student who witnessed an incident
at McGruer Davies department store on Friday night to report to his office.
Between this well-known store and Woollcombe Street there were two places of
business worthy of note. One was Pages Caneware and Basketware shop and EC Ayres
Chemist shop. Both were popular businesses who served the community with
distinction.
Moving on down Stafford Street the Theatre Royal brings back memories of a
different kind. Tucked into the front of the old building frontage was Mrs
Mackay's Black and White Confectionary shop. It was distinct because the black
and white theme was all over the inside as well as the street frontage. Mrs
Mackay had the franchise to supply ice-cream and confections to the Majestic
Theatre and the Theatre Royal. As a boy of 10 or 11 I worked for a time as an
ice-cream boy at both places. Panic would prevail when both picture theatres had
their interval at the same time. In a good week I took home 10 or 12 shillings
for six nights' work. These days the Theatre Royal is nowhere near as busy as in
those earlier times. All the modern electronic gadgets have taken their toll.
The Switzerland Ice Ballet caused great excitement in the district as did the
visit of the very popular Vienna Boys Choir. Probably one of the greatest
functions held in the theatre was the Queen Carnival to raise money for the war
effort. Many fundraising functions were held and the Royal was packed to
bursting on many occasions. The selected "queens" were Jean Horwell for the
army, Sister Adams and her deputy Florence Carney for the navy and Eileen
Hetherington for the air force. The whole idea was extremely well supported and
thousands of pounds were raised for the cause. Because my dad was a member of
the drama league I was present at many performances of all kinds and often
helped with shifting scenery, etc, back stage. Those of you who remember the
Theatre Royal of the old days will recall the very heavy stage curtains that
would go up and down quite a few times during a performance. From back stage I
was amazed to see the curtain raised and lowered by one man only. His name was
Joe Neeson. At the appropriate moment he would take a short run and jump up five
or six feet and bring the monstrous thing down on his own. He did this for many
years.
The Majestic Theatre was managed by Mr Kennedy, affectionately known as "Hoppy"
because of his affliction. In fact for a long period of time he was in charge of
both theatres. The staff too were interchangeable and men like Clarrie
Blackwood, Jim Duncan, Frank Johnstone and Arthur Lyon served many years as
ushers and ticket collectors until sanity left the world as we know it with the
arrival of the Second World War. Len Preddy was a master projectionist and was
highly regarded by many.
Down towards George Street was the furnishing store of Butterfields. This
establishment provided furniture, bedding, carpets and electric goods to
hundreds of South Canterbury residents at a reasonable price and on easy terms.
My wife and I bought our first suite of a couch and two chairs from them and
many times we were well looked after by Mr McErlane who must have spent most of
his life with this establishment. Sadly, the premises stand empty today.
On the corner of George and Stafford streets stood Gabities Menswear which also
served the district well. Unfortunately, when Mr Gabities retired, as happens
with many businesses, there was no one to continue the daily running of the shop
and no newcomer who wanted to invest in it.
Now if you cross Stafford Street opposite the old Butterfields store there are
two quite old concrete buildings. One was the former home of the National
Mortgage and Agency Co Ltd and which has been swallowed up by others with bigger
mouths and deeper pockets and does not now exist. The other was the district
office for the National Bank of New Zealand, which suffered a similar fate.
On the south-east corner of George and Stafford streets stood the once very
proud and very popular Club Hotel. Like the Commercial, the Empire, the Crown
and the Dominion hotels it succumbed to the pressures of modern business and
demands. The proprietor of the Club Hotel was very supportive of all sporting
organisations and many tales could be told about the happenings within its
walls.
To the east of this hotel and across an access alleyway stood the impressive
home of Dalgety and Co Ltd. It was a mighty two-storeyed building which stood
lonely and isolated from all others. It was of superb construction which looked
as if it would last forever. Yes, its electrical and plumbing facilities were
out-of-date, but could have been modernised.
I have to say it, or rather write it, that during my nearly 80 years of
residence here I have never seen any earthquake damage, not even a damaged
chimney, in our district. Dalgetys are no more, having been swallowed up by
others, but like all stock and station firms of the period they provided the
best for all their clients' transactions and supplied all their farm and
household supplies.
On the north-eastern corner of the junction of George and Stafford streets stood
the Commercial Bank of Australia. Now gone but a very useful and co-operative
bank in its day. Because of our close association with Australia quite a lot of
their currency was brought back to New Zealand and I imagine most businesses, as
ours did, would have quite a lot of it filtering through their transactions. The
CBA allowed me to bank any of this currency in an account which we were able to
use on our visits to Australia.
On the remaining corner, that is the north-western corner of the intersection,
stood another bank. This time the Bank of New Zealand. It too was a bluestone
building and on obtaining our nursery at Arowhenua it became necessary to have a
cheque account. One lunch-time I made a special journey to the bank to deposit
my wage for the week because I knew there was precious little in the account.
While waiting in the queue to do this an officer of the bank came up to me and
in a strong voice said, "Do you intend to keep your account open because you are
two shillings and seven pence overdrawn". Absolutely dumbfounded I replied, "Do
you think I am here to buy pies?" Worst of all this man was a senior staff
member and worse still I had worked for him with garden work quite a few times
before. The bank as it stood in those days had a garden area on both the south
side and the north side which was affectionately tended by Mr Bentley who was
resident in the building and a well known citizen in the community. He was
prominent in several Timaru organisations, none the least of which was scouting.
I believe he rose to the rank of commissioner. His wife, too, was prominent in
the town's affairs, especially as a member of the St Marys Church choir. And so
my meanderings of remembrances and happenings have once again come to an end. We
must never forget those early pioneers who had the courage to travel half way
around the world, to a place they had never seen, to establish a village, a town
and then a city with little else than a faith in a place for their families and
themselves.
STOCK AND STATION (photo): Identified as a re-enactment of the Cobb and Co Coach
calling at the Club Hotel, photographed about 1960, this photograph clearly
shows the Dalgety's Building on George Street. In the foreground are Mrs Eileen
McKenna and Miss Betsy McKenna.
Corner of George St. and Stafford Street, April 2008
A close up view of Morton's.